Design collective Luzinterruptus worked their artistic plastic magic last month with an illuminated plastic bottle installation at Singapore’s I Light Marina Bay , dubbed “Asia’s leading sustainable light art festival.” The massive glowing artwork, called Transitable Plastic, comprised seven movable walls hung beneath the Esplanade Bridge, one of the busiest transit areas in the bay. Designed to raise awareness about the “plastic binge,” the interactive artwork required visitors to physically move the plastic walls out of the way in order to get to the other side. Installed for approximately four weeks, Transitable Plastic was created with over 20,000 recycled plastic units collected from the community and local businesses including hotels, restaurants and shopping malls over the span of a month. Luzinterruptus vacuum packed the plastic bottles to create larger panels that were then strung together to form seven large walls. These makeshift walls were hung from metal scaffolding. The installation took 10 days to complete. Related: Historic French building stuffed with plastic bags looks ready to explode “We [lit] the piece with a cold, neutral light which enhanced the glint of the plastic material and brought out the color of the labels allowing to easily guess which are the city’s most popular beverage brands,” wrote the designers. “As visitors entered the piece, landmarks disappeared so they had to get the plastic out of the way in order to avoid getting stuck in the corridors and to get to the other side, a healthier, more open place where they could breathe fresh air. A more-than-a-minute-long walk among plastics which could bring about a bit of asphyxia and inevitably the thought of plastic and its related problems.” Transitable Plastic was fully disassembled at the end of the event and the materials were sorted and recycled. + Luzinterruptus Images by Colossal Pro

Comments Off on Incredible green dreamscape made of recycled threads takes over a Taipei lecture hall

Taipei’s lush jungle landscape has crept indoors in the form of a “green dreamscape.” MVRDV and Argentinian textile artist Alexandra Kehayoglou transformed a 180-person lecture hall into an incredible sight with wall-to-wall carpets woven out of recycled threads that mimic natural textures like moss, water, trees, and pastures. Located at JUT Group’s head office, this public wall-covering artwork references Taiwan’s sub-tropical environment while providing acoustic control and an unforgettable lecture backdrop. Sprawled out across a 240-square-meter lecture hall, the massive installation looks surprisingly lifelike from afar. The variety of textures, shapes, and patterns evoke a diverse plants palette ranging from delicate flowers on the carpet floor to thick mosses clinging on the far back wall. Alexandra Kehayoglou created the site-specific textile work using discarded threads from her family’s carpet factory in Buenos Aires. The unique artwork was made with a laborious hand-tufting technique and took over a year to complete. Related: Amazing landscape carpets transform your living room into a lush, grassy meadow “The interior is literally a green dream,” says Winy Maas , MVRDV co-founder. “Together with the artwork, it represents the natural landscape of Taiwan and at the same time, acts as an acoustic intervention. In the midst of the hyper-urban condition of Taipei, audiences will be surrounded by this green dreamscape.” The interior design builds on the research of MVRDV and their think tank, The Why Factory , into the potential of future transformable elements. + MVRDV + Alexandra Kehayoglou Images via MVRDV

Comments Off on A river made of 10,000 glowing books flows through Toronto

This large, interactive art installation is created by group of anonymous artists/activists who “want literature to take over the streets and conquer public spaces, freely offering those passersby a traffic-free place which, for some hours, will succumb to the humble power of the written word.” Related: Alicia Martin’s Amazing Book Sculptures Pour out of Windows and Into the Streets The team has previously carried out the installation illegally in New York and Madrid, received official permission to appear in Melbourne, and has recently visited Toronto during Nuit Blanche Toronto, an annual, city-wide celebration of contemporary art. For this occasion, the group has used 10,000 books donated by the Salvation Army and worked for 12 days alongside 50 volunteers to replace cars with books on Hagerman Street, downtown Toronto . Related: Guy Laramée Carves a Majestic Lifelike Mountain Range Out of an Encyclopedia Britannica Set The artwork was open to the public for one night, during which visitors could immerse themselves in a literal flow of words and paper illuminated by soft lighting coming from the pages. They would sit down to read, take photos and eventually take pieces of the installation home. It took 10 hours for the installation to self-dismantle. + Luzinterruptus + Nuit Blanche Toronto

Comments Off on This artist turns used pen refills into miniature sculptures of world landmarks

Sreenivas M.R. had a hobby of collecting used pen refills from friends. As part of ‘Say No to Plastic’ program, which he organizes for awareness on global warming in schools and colleges, he setup used pen refill collection boxes to add to his collection. After a while, he realized that he could turn these raw materials into incredible miniature structures, like Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Tower of Pisa . His work has set a national record and was featured in the ‘India Book of Records’ in 2012 for making miniature of Taj Mahal from 700 used pen refills, but he isn’t stopping there. Sreenivas’ goal is to have covered the famous landmarks from all over the world. Right now, however, he is focusing on making miniature of houses and interior design works. He also helps in making miniature models for exhibitions and fairs. + Sreenivas M.R. The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat ? Send us a tip by following this link. Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

What if you could build your own arm using LEGO bricks? An innovative prosthetic arm that allows children to incorporate their own personalized LEGO attachments could make that dream a reality. The idea, which took home the Grand Prix award at Paris’s Netexplo digital technology summit, is known as the IKO Creative Prosthetic System. Due to its adaptability, the unique prosthetic can suit a range of preferences for shapes, colors, and accessories, bringing empowerment and creativity to children with disabilities. Read the rest of LEGO arm lets kids customize their own prosthetics

A new species of fish has been discovered in the Central African nation of Gabon, and it’s one unique character with an enlarged “Jay Leno” chin and the ability to communicate through electric pulses. In a recent study , ichthyologist John Sullivan detailed his discovery in which he found the four-inch brown fish in one of his traps and immediately knew it was unlike anything he’d studied before. The new species, dubbed Cryptomyrus ogoouensis , isn’t the only electric fish in Africa’s waters, but it is the first found that gives off its particular electric frequency. Read the rest of Newly-discovered electric fish with Jay Leno chin speaks in electric pulses

Comments Off on Inhabitat Talks to Lori Zimmer about her book The Art of Cardboard

You know and love Lori Zimmer as Inhabitat’s art editor and the founder of ArtNerd , but did you know that she’s a published author too? An eye-popping fresh look at a medium that’s usually considered more-than-mundane, The Art of Cardboard celebrates and elevates cardboard by showcasing a selection of artists who are re-branding the brown boards in exciting new ways. We recently caught up with Lori to learn more about the book and how cardboard is forcing the art world to look at it with new eyes. Read the rest of Inhabitat Talks to Lori Zimmer about her book The Art of Cardboard

The country’s largest and oldest recycled art market, Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival, is dedicated to showcasing art created from discarded materials. This years’ event is being held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, November 20-22, 2015….